Higher Ed Leaders: We have the Support & Strategies You Need

Maximize Your Public Speaking by Overcoming Your Discomfort

Communication is a critical skill for leaders. And as challenges facing higher education today grow more complex and communication methods more diverse, the need to feel confident in your ability to speak publicly is more essential than ever.   Join us for a virtual training uniquely designed to help you understand, and move through, your […]

Building Agency in Your Mid-Career as Faculty

As faculty move through their mid-career stage, there are numerous directions open to them for their future. Associate professors, both tenured and on the career track, can choose to focus more directly on their research, experiment with new teaching techniques, or focus on building skills to move into leadership positions. However, given all of these […]

Building a Transformative Mindset on Your Team

Institutions currently face a changing student demographic, increased student disengagement, and the Great Resignation, and their old methods of operating may no longer allow them to be successful in a changing higher education landscape. As institutions look to boost or maintain student enrollment and retention, as well as to retain their faculty and staff, breaking […]

Securing the Gift: Making the Ask with Confidence

Gift officers can sometimes feel uncomfortable making the ask for a variety of reasons, and the anxiety they can produce may be felt and mirrored by donors, leading to a “no.” However, not making the ask can lead to missed opportunities and a loss of momentum with key prospects. A successful ask comes down to […]

Improving Your Donor Pipeline Through Academic Leader and Advancement Collaboration

Enhancing collaboration among alumni engagement, annual giving, and academic leaders is a strategic priority for many institutions. By engaging deans and academic leaders intentionally and early in the fundraising cycle, advancement professionals can help their academic colleagues see themselves within philanthropic work. Perhaps more importantly, this partnership can also provide alumni and donors with clear […]

Keys to a Successful Relationship Between Deans and Development Officers

Philanthropy is critical to helping institutions meet their academic missions, and at its core, it is all about building and maintaining relationships. Although fundraising is just one of the myriad responsibilities overseen by an academic dean, the development officer is a key partner in assisting the dean in achieving those fundraising goals. To find success […]

Leveraging Your Alumni Data for Deeper Engagement

It wasn’t long ago that gathering alumni engagement data used to be a challenge at many institutions. This is no longer the case today, as alumni engagement data is routinely collected across the industry. However, many advancement shops may not have a full grasp of how best to utilize their data to identify potential volunteers […]

Developing a Principal Gifts Program that Supports Transformational Priorities

Principal gifts, defined differently at different institutions, can bring high-level success to your institutional priorities—especially those advocated by your president and academic leaders. By building out a disciplined principal gifts program, regardless of its current maturity, you can bring clarity to how your team and institutional stakeholders advance transformational ideas in partnership with your top […]

Leading Change From Where You Are: Strategies for Faculty

Many faculty feel overwhelmed by the overlapping crises in higher education, and that they have little agency for making change. But faculty can take action to make change right where they are by leveraging their strengths and preferences as leaders and building effective networks of colleagues with complementary abilities. By identifying opportunities for meaningful change […]